Cacciatore Story

Given my half Italian roots, it ought to be pretty shocking that I've never made chicken cacciatore. I remember it being one of my grandfather's favorite dishes, something he ordered whenever we went out. Considering how much he loved it, I'm not sure why my grandmother never cooked it. Surely, if she had I would have made it dozens of times by now!

It's not a difficult dish to make, and it certainly satisfies a winter meal craving. I started with this basic recipe adapted from Better Homes & Gardens below, which was super tasty, but I have a feeling I'll be working to perfect it over the next few, cold months!

Chicken Cacciatore
Ingredients:
2 teaspoons olive oil
6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1 medium onion, sliced
1 red bell pepper, sliced
8 oz. white mushrooms, sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
3/4 cup white wine
1 (14.5 oz.) can crushed tomatoes
1 (6 oz.) can tomato paste
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
Salt and pepper
Hot cooked rice or pasta

Directions:
Heat oil in skillet over medium heat. Brown chicken on all sides; remove from skillet and set aside.

Add onion, bell pepper, mushrooms, and garlic to skillet. Cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add wine to skillet, scraping up browned bits from bottom of pan. Return chicken to skillet. Add tomatoes, tomato paste, sugar, and Italian seasoning to skillet. Stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover, and simmer 20 to 25 minutes (until thighs register 180 degrees).

Serve over rice or pasta.

Flip Over Tri Tip

Until one of my most recent visits back home to the Bay Area, it hadn't occurred to me that there are some definite regional favorites in California that are missing from the Midwest. I could have named dozens of dishes native to Milwaukee (Friday fish fry, beer-braised brats, fried cheese curds, frozen custard), but with the exception of sourdough bread, I'd have drawn a blank if you asked me what California is known for. Until a couple weeks ago.

I don't know now what sparked it, but suddenly everyone was talking about tri tip. Guy Fieri (another Northern California native) was making it on his show, I was seeing recipes in magazines, it was being sold alongside the rotisserie chickens at my mom's grocery store ... and I realized it had been years since I'd had it because you just don't find it here in Milwaukee. Just like you don't find 27 varieties of sausage in your California corner store.

I didn't have a chance to pick up a tri tip while I was at home in the Bay, but Bill and I were in for a surprise when we returned to Wisco. Wandering aimlessly around the meat department at Sendik's on New Year's Eve (Me: "Lobster?" Bill: "No." Me: "Lamb chops?" Bill: "Nuh-uh."), I came across a familiar-looking cut of beef. That lean, triangular, 2-pound steak was what I thought I'd never see on our supermarket shelves: tri tip. Bill didn't have a choice on that one. I snatched it up.

As with most delicious cuts of meat, its beauty lies in the fact that it doesn't take much to make it delicious. Just marinate, grill, and enjoy. The sweet, caramelized, crusty ends are going to be the best part, but you'll also enjoy the super tender and juicy center. I made Ina Garten's equally easy sauteed broccolini (that recipe is also below) to go with it, but it really doesn't need more than a green salad and a hunk of bread.

Marinated Tri Tip
Ingredients:
1 tri tip roast, about 2-2 1/2 lbs.
3 tablespoons lemon juice
3 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons sugar
Freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon lemon garlic salt

Directions:
Combine all ingredients in a large zip-top bag, ensuring roast is completely coated with marinade. Refrigerate, at least 6 hours but up to 24 hours, turning once.

Remove roast from refrigerator prior to preparing grill. When grill is ready (for maximum charring action, we discovered it's best to have a hot side and cool side of the grill, and the hot side must be VERY hot), place tri tip on hot side. Grill meat 6 to 7 minutes per side, move to cool side of grill, and grill another 6 minutes. Remove meat from grill and allow to rest 10 minutes. Slice at a bias against the grain and serve.

Sauteed Broccolini
Ingredients:
1 bunch broccolini
2 tablespoons butter
1 clove garlic, finely chipped
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
Salt and pepper
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

Directions:
Blanch broccolini in boiling water 2 minutes. Drain and immediately place in bowl of ice water (to stop cooking and help broccolini retain its crunch).

Melt butter in large skillet. Add garlic and lemon zest. Add broccolini and saute about 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Squeeze lemon juice over broccolini just before serving.

Happy Anniversary, LoV Bites!

Well, today marks exactly one year since I ventured into the world of food blogging. And what a year it's been! I've made countless delicious dishes, a number of new friends, and even achieved a few minutes of fame. A year ago I couldn't have imagined how much use my kitchen would see, how many people I'd have supporting and encouraging me, and how much fun this would be!

Let's run down some of the highlights of LoV Bites' first year ...

The recipe wishlist. I've had a running list (or rather, a box full) of recipes I've wanted to try forever. Luckily, LoV Bites gave me a more organized place to put them. I created my recipe wishlist in March and have been steadily knocking out dishes ever since. I have many more recipes sitting in my "to do" pile than are listed here, but this serves as a reminder of some of the most desirable. I've set no goal for completing them because these certainly aren't the easiest dishes. If anything, they're the most challenging I care to attempt. I made a pretty good dent this year, but I don't ever plan to cross them all off. The joy of the wishlist is that it's forever growing! If you have ideas, I would love, love, love to hear them.

Making foodie friends. Who knew there was such a wide world of food lovers out here in cyberspace? Little did I realize that when I started cataloging and commenting on my recipes I was joining the ranks of a seemingly infinite number of fellow food bloggers. I've had the pleasure of e-meeting many great people this year, especially in the Milwaukee food scene. I was invited to join Your Milwaukee Dining as a facebook contributor, snapping shots of some of my most delicious meals in the city. I also won a couple guest spots on Chicago's Foodie Finds blog where I contributed posts about La Merenda and the Cream and Crepe Cafe. And I garnered 90+ Twitter followers, most of whom are fellow food lovers. It's been an awesome year of connecting and I'm looking forward to meeting many more friends in the year ahead!

Awards from America's Test Kitchen. Perhaps my most surprising and proud moments of 2011 came via America's Test Kitchen. It's no secret that I'm a huge ATK fan and I use their recipes often. For pure fun, I went out on a limb and entered several of their "Dish it Your Way" blogger challenges on ATK's The Feed website this summer. I shared Jen's Juicy Lucy during burger week and my Chocolate Dipped Cone Cupcakes during cupcake week. But the highlight was WINNING (yes, I said winning) the mac and cheese challenge with my Deep Fried Mac and Cheese! I couldn't have been more thrilled to have one of my own recipes spotlighted on The Feed. It was a big deal for an amateur like me!

So here's to another amazing year of food and friends. I hope you've enjoyed the journey so far as much as I have. Cheers!